My PC broke?

[Guest]

Today I did what I always do (play some games, browse the web, etc!) and
then, when I turned off my PC, Windows wouldn't boot (although I could POST
-- it did pass the BIOS check and all that).

I tried running safe mode but when it was loading files it said the files
are corrupted (WTF HAPPENED?). "system 32\config\system corrupted" The same
thing while loading Windows normally. Of course, I have Windows XP (Home with
SP2 and latest patches).

Tried running last good windows configuration. Nope. Tried booting from my
Windows XP cd and reinstalling Windows, nope, it told me that: "Setup did not
find any hard disk drives installed in your computer".

I booted from a 98 floppy. It said something about not being able to find c
drive. I ran command and tried writing c: and all the other letters but --
NOTHING -- except the A: drive. It also, somehow, configured my C drive to be
a RAM drive, wtf. Finally, I solved this by making an NFTS (!!) floppy and
running that one. Now I can use the cmd.

I tried running fdisk and looking at the partitions. OK. It did find my d:
and c: (c == bootable with Windows. D is my partition with games and stuff).

2 hours ago or so I decided to search the web for my problem. I found some
nice articles and followed them. What I did is:

"Try these steps to recover the system:

1. Boot to recovery console
2. Go to c:\windows\system32\config folder
3. Type these commands to rename registry hives
Ren system system.old
Ren software software.old
Ren security security.old
Ren SAM SAM.old
Ren default default.old

Once they all renamed, copy them from repair folder to config folder using
these commands

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart."
-http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_20738525.html

OK. I did so and now when my PC boots I get no errors BUT when it boots, it
boots for about 5-6 seconds (I can see the Windows XP logo) and then
restarts. The same with safe mode (and all other modes out there).

What can I do? Thanks!

BTW, here's my PC:

Windows XP SP2 w/ latest patches
Albatron K8X800 Pro 2 with 1.06a BIOS motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (ClawHammer)
1024 MB DDRAM (512MB of 3200 and 512MB of 2700)
Gigabyte NVIDIA 6800 128MB DDRAM OC 360MHz proc 730MHz mem
Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM Hard Drive w/8 MB cache
350 Watt Power Supply
5 case fans / runs cool

Thanks for help. Good thing I always have 2 other PC to use.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Today I did what I always do (play some games, browse the web, etc!)
and then, when I turned off my PC, Windows wouldn't boot (although I
could POST -- it did pass the BIOS check and all that).

I tried running safe mode but when it was loading files it said the
files are corrupted (WTF HAPPENED?). "system 32\config\system
corrupted" The same thing while loading Windows normally. Of course,
I have Windows XP (Home with SP2 and latest patches).

Tried running last good windows configuration. Nope. Tried booting
from my Windows XP cd and reinstalling Windows, nope, it told me
that: "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your
computer".

I booted from a 98 floppy. It said something about not being able to
find c drive. I ran command and tried writing c: and all the other
letters but -- NOTHING -- except the A: drive. It also, somehow,
configured my C drive to be a RAM drive, wtf. Finally, I solved this
by making an NFTS (!!) floppy and running that one. Now I can use the
cmd.

I tried running fdisk and looking at the partitions. OK. It did find
my d: and c: (c == bootable with Windows. D is my partition with
games and stuff).

2 hours ago or so I decided to search the web for my problem. I found
some nice articles and followed them. What I did is:

"Try these steps to recover the system:

1. Boot to recovery console
2. Go to c:\windows\system32\config folder
3. Type these commands to rename registry hives
Ren system system.old
Ren software software.old
Ren security security.old
Ren SAM SAM.old
Ren default default.old

Once they all renamed, copy them from repair folder to config folder
using these commands

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart."
-http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/WinXP/Q_20738525.html

OK. I did so and now when my PC boots I get no errors BUT when it
boots, it boots for about 5-6 seconds (I can see the Windows XP logo)
and then restarts. The same with safe mode (and all other modes out
there).

What can I do? Thanks!

BTW, here's my PC:

Windows XP SP2 w/ latest patches
Albatron K8X800 Pro 2 with 1.06a BIOS motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (ClawHammer)
1024 MB DDRAM (512MB of 3200 and 512MB of 2700)
Gigabyte NVIDIA 6800 128MB DDRAM OC 360MHz proc 730MHz mem
Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM Hard Drive w/8 MB cache
350 Watt Power Supply
5 case fans / runs cool

Thanks for help. Good thing I always have 2 other PC to use.

Do a repair installation..
(You may need to make a slipstreamed SP2 Windows XP CD.. Look into
"AutoStreamer".)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
or
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/tips/dougknox/doug92.asp
or
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/repaxp.htm

 

[Guest]

All right. Thanks for the replies. As for the "Do a repair installation", I
can not do that since every time I put my Windows XP cd in, I wait for all
the files to load (drivers?) then, when it says "Loading Windows", a message
pops up saying "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your
computer". There's more to that but not much. All I can do is press F3 and
quit the installation at that point.

My file system is NTFS on both partitions, if that matters. ?

I also used Partition Magic to do my partitioning work (A long time ago) but
I don't have it now...

 

[Miss Perspicacia Tick]

All right. Thanks for the replies. As for the "Do a repair
installation", I can not do that since every time I put my Windows XP
cd in, I wait for all the files to load (drivers?) then, when it says
"Loading Windows", a message pops up saying "Setup did not find any
hard disk drives installed in your computer". There's more to that
but not much. All I can do is press F3 and quit the installation at
that point.

My file system is NTFS on both partitions, if that matters. ?

I also used Partition Magic to do my partitioning work (A long time
ago) but I don't have it now...

Let me guess, your hard drive is SATA, right...?

 

[Li'l Roberto]

You might want to test your RAM with memtest86+, I don't like the
idea of running 2700 & 3200 - best to use modules from the same
batch.

rgds
Li'l Roberto

 

[Guest]

It might be. I know it's from Segate, don't know if it's SATA. I could check
but since I'm not by my 'broken' computer right now, I can't.

What if it is? What can I do about it? This is the first time a thing like
this happened. Don't want to send it to service yet.

Thanks!

To Li'l Roberto,

I know it's not the best idea to run two different memory sticks at
different speeds but since I got my PC (and upgraded my 512MB -original- to
1024MB) I didn't have any problems.

Yes, they are generic stick (no brand).

 

[John]

It might be. I know it's from Segate, don't know if it's SATA. I could check
but since I'm not by my 'broken' computer right now, I can't.

What if it is? What can I do about it? This is the first time a thing like
this happened. Don't want to send it to service yet.

Thanks!

To Li'l Roberto,

I know it's not the best idea to run two different memory sticks at
different speeds but since I got my PC (and upgraded my 512MB -original- to
1024MB) I didn't have any problems.

Yes, they are generic stick (no brand).

:

A Barracuda drive I believe you said, if so thats SATA. You will need
to get SATA drivers from your motherboard manufacturer and put them on a
floppy. When you start up with the XP CD at the very beginning it says
to press F6 for third party drivers. A bit later in the install it asks
for the floppy with those drivers. If you bought the computer retail you
may already have the drivers on a floppy or CD, look around. XP can only
use them from a floppy however unless you want to look into slipstreaming.

John

 

[Guest]

All right. I'll try finding some drivers for my HD and I'll post what happens.

Now, what is the difference between SATA and ATA? (Or whatever else is
there?) Which ones better? Faster?

Big Thanks! Maybe I won't need to send my PC to service after all.

 

[Miss Perspicacia Tick]

A Barracuda drive I believe you said, if so thats SATA. You will need
to get SATA drivers from your motherboard manufacturer and put them
on a floppy. When you start up with the XP CD at the very beginning
it says to press F6 for third party drivers. A bit later in the install it
asks for the floppy with those drivers. If you bought the computer
retail you may already have the drivers on a floppy or CD, look
around. XP can only use them from a floppy however unless you want to
look into slipstreaming.
John

Well spotted, John, I missed that. Yes, Barracudas are SATA.

 

[Guest]

I'm having a VERY hard time finding those drivers and putting them on a
floppy

Would I have to get them from my motherboards manufacturers website
(Albatron? Or from my hard drive manufacturers website?)... Cause all I see
there are "SATA RAID" drivers. Would that be it? How can I get about 10 MB on
a floppy?

Drivers?
http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/it/mb/driver.asp?pro_id=79
http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/drivers/discwiz.html

Also, when I tried doing the above (making a floppy with all the necessary
drivers) it said "txtsetup.oem could not be found". What is it and what does
it have to do with all the drivers??? Of course, that was during the WinXP
installation process (Press F6 if you need SCSI drivers... Or something like
that).

Sorry for having so many questions. THIS is killing me.

 

[Miss Perspicacia Tick]

I'm having a VERY hard time finding those drivers and putting them on
a floppy

Would I have to get them from my motherboards manufacturers website
(Albatron? Or from my hard drive manufacturers website?)... Cause all
I see there are "SATA RAID" drivers. Would that be it? How can I get
about 10 MB on a floppy?

Drivers?
http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/it/mb/driver.asp?pro_id=79
http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/drivers/discwiz.html

Also, when I tried doing the above (making a floppy with all the
necessary drivers) it said "txtsetup.oem could not be found". What is
it and what does it have to do with all the drivers??? Of course,
that was during the WinXP installation process (Press F6 if you need
SCSI drivers... Or something like that).

Sorry for having so many questions. THIS is killing me.

OK,

First of all, SATA drivers are obtained from the motherboard manufacturer,
*not* the manufacturer of the hard drive. Your board has a VIA chipset, so
you could also have obtained drivers from www.viaarena.com.

The entire contents of the zip does not need to be copied to the floppy. If
you decompress it, you will notice a folder marked 'DriverDisk' - these are
the files that need to go on the floppy (well the SATA driver anyway, you
can dispense with the PIDE folder).

The reason you received that error is that you did not copy the file to the
floppy. When you insert the driver disk, you should be given a menu to
choose your operating system (either 2000, XP or 2003). If the file is
missing, the installation routine doesn't know which OS you have and so you
receive the error. Copy everything in the SATA folder to the floppy, boot
from the XP CD and hit F6 when prompted (make sure your board's F Lock key
is enabled, if it has one - you've no idea how many we get here saying F/n/
key doesn't work and it's because the F Lock is off).

You should then, when you've inserted the disk, be presented with a list
with three or four choices (Windows 2000, XP or 2003 being the usual ones).
Select XP and hit enter. The system should now load the drivers from the
floppy and you should be all set.

If not, post back with problem and the precise details of any errors.

Good luck! ;o)

 

[Guest]

Woopie. I found the drivers here:
http://www.asrock.com/support/Download/dl_775vm8_cn.htm

(Was searching for the above A LONG TIME)

I think I'm set for now. Now I'll just format and install Windows again
(maybe Linux, too).

BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE!!!

 

[Guest]

No luck. When I was installing Windows, it asked me for the SCSI drivers. OK,
I put them in, Windows continues the installation and then, almost at the end
(partitioning and formating is over) it comes up with "Can not copy ---HERE'S
THE SCSI DRIVER NAME---" and does that 3x for every file that needs to be
copied.

I ignore this and continue with the installation. Finalizing. Windows
restarts. Now I get a blue screen before booting to Windows "A problem has
been detected and windows has shut down to prevent damage to
your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your
computer. If this screen appears
again follow these steps:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard
drive or hard drive controllers.
Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and
terminated.
Run CHKDSK /f to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your
computer.

Technical Info:
*** Stop: 0x0000007B (0xF7C45640, 0x00000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

I searched for the above and came with quite few results. It happens when,
EXACTLY, the SCSI drivers can not be found or they are corrupted or when the
boot device is innaccesible (NO DRIVER!!!).

Thanks again,
Krogen (Matt W.)

 

[Miss Perspicacia Tick]

Woopie. I found the drivers here:
http://www.asrock.com/support/Download/dl_775vm8_cn.htm

(Was searching for the above A LONG TIME)

I think I'm set for now. Now I'll just format and install Windows
again (maybe Linux, too).

BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE!!!

Probably a daft question, but why are you downloading the drivers from AS
Rock when you have an Albatron board...?

 

[Guest]

*I have no idea*

I downloaded the SCSI drivers for my motherboard this time...

Anyways, here's what happens:

No luck. When I was installing Windows, it asked me for the SCSI drivers. OK,
I put them in (Albatron RAID SATA), Windows continues the installation and
then, almost at the end
(partitioning and formating is over) it comes up with "Can not copy ---HERE'S
THE SCSI DRIVER NAME---" and does that 3x for every file that needs to be
copied.

I ignore this and continue with the installation. Finalizing. Windows
restarts. Now I get a blue screen before booting to Windows "A problem has
been detected and windows has shut down to prevent damage to
your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your
computer. If this screen appears
again follow these steps:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard
drive or hard drive controllers.
Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and
terminated.
Run CHKDSK /f to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your
computer.

Technical Info:
*** Stop: 0x0000007B (0xF7C45640, 0x00000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

I searched for the above and came with quite few results. It happens when,
EXACTLY, the SCSI drivers can not be found or they are corrupted or when the
boot device is innaccesible (NO DRIVER!!!).

Now... Is there a way to install the drivers manually?

Thanks again,
Krogen (Matt W.)

 

[Nick Goetz]

All right. I'll try finding some drivers for my HD and I'll post
what happens.

Now, what is the difference between SATA and ATA? (Or whatever
else is there?) Which ones better? Faster?

Big Thanks! Maybe I won't need to send my PC to service after
all.

You do not need to load any drivers for SATA hard drives during a
Windows XP installation.

Some things you might want to check:
1. Is your primary/boot partition set to "active"?
2. Is your BIOS/CMOS properly set to use the SATA drive (check your
user manual for instructions). Make sure the drive is detected
during POST.
3. Why is setup asking for for SCSI drivers... do you have any?

Most likely supect is #1.

Nick Goetz